Article
Anesthesiology
Katarina Aili, Paul Campbell, Zoe A. Michaleff, Vicky Y. Strauss, Kelvin P. Jordan, Ann Bremander, Peter Croft, Stefan Bergman
Summary: The study found that while the majority of people reported no chronic pain over a 21-year period, there was also a subset of individuals whose pain status changed over time. Few transitioned from no chronic pain to chronic regional pain or chronic widespread pain, while more transitioned from chronic regional pain to chronic widespread pain.
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
Jung Hwan Jo, Chunghwan Son, Jin Woo Chung, Ji Woon Park
Summary: This study investigated the presence of widespread pain in a well-defined TMD group and found that patients with widespread pain showed higher somatization and anxiety levels. Treatment response was also less in the widespread pain group. The study suggests that the WPI could be a useful tool in predicting TMD treatment response and identifying patients with higher psychological distress.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sara Caxaria, Sabah Bharde, Alice M. Fuller, Romy Evans, Bethan Thomas, Petek Celik, Francesco Dell'Accio, Simon Yona, Derek Gilroy, Mathieu-Benoit Voisin, John N. Wood, Shafaq Sikandar
Summary: We demonstrated the role of neutrophils in fibromyalgia by using a back-translational approach in mice. Adoptive transfer of neutrophils from mice with chronic widespread pain or patients with fibromyalgia can induce mechanical pain in recipient mice, sensitize spinal cord neurons, and cause changes in the expression of neutrophil proteins that lead to neutrophil infiltration into dorsal root ganglia. These findings suggest an immunological basis for chronic widespread pain in fibromyalgia mediated by neutrophils.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Anesthesiology
Marina M. Finnern, Dieter Kleinboehl, Herta Flor, Justus Benrath, Rupert Hoelzl
Summary: This study examined the differentiation of chronic primary pain syndromes into those with widespread vs regional musculoskeletal pain, identifying four clusters of patients with chronic primary back pain and fibromyalgia syndrome based on pressure sensitivity markers and clinical pain characteristics. Discriminant analysis revealed that three discriminant functions of pressure sensitivity markers were sufficient to differentiate the clusters, highlighting the relevance of sensory testing in chronic primary pain syndromes.
Article
Rehabilitation
Matthias Poesl, Gabriela F. Carvalho, Waclaw M. Adamczyk, Beate Schuessler, Michael Richter, Kerstin Luedtke, Tibor M. Szikszay
Summary: This study aims to investigate whether proprioceptive accuracy measured with the Joint Position Sense (JPS) in patients with chronic neck and low back pain is impaired exclusively in affected areas or also in distant areas not affected by pain.
ARCHIVES OF PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Isabel Mason, Joanna Renee, Ivan Marples, Laura McWhirter, Alan Carson, Jon Stone, Ingrid Hoeritzauer
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of functional neurological disorder (FND) in patients with chronic pain. The results showed that among 190 chronic pain patients, 32 (17%) had a diagnosis of FND and an additional 11 (6%) had undiagnosed neurological symptoms. Chronic pain patients with comorbid FND were more likely to have chronic primary pain, widespread chronic primary pain, and depression. However, there were no significant differences in medication prescription or pain outcome between patients with and without FND.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nannan Chen, Yunpeng Zhang, Emmanuel J. Rivera-Rodriguez, Albert D. Yu, Michael Hobin, Michael Rosbash, Leslie C. Griffith
Summary: It is found that many glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons also transcribe cholinergic genes but fail to accumulate cholinergic effector proteins in Drosophila. The suppression of cholinergic signaling is posttranscriptionally regulated by the microRNA miR-190. This posttranscriptional restriction provides a mechanism for reversible tuning of neuronal output.
Article
Psychiatry
Yuanyuan Chen, Peijun Ju, Qingrong Xia, Peng Cheng, Jianliang Gao, Loufeng Zhang, Hua Gao, Xialong Cheng, Tao Yu, Junwei Yan, Qiru Wang, Cuizhen Zhu, Xulai Zhang
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the association between pain catastrophizing and comorbidity of major depressive disorder (MDD) and chronic pain (CP). The results showed that pain catastrophizing and anxiety were more severe in the comorbidity group compared to the MDD-only group and healthy control group. Pain catastrophizing and anxiety may potentially impact the comorbidity of depression and chronic pain.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Rheumatology
Maxim B. Freidin, Maria A. Stalteri, Philippa M. Wells, Genevieve Lachance, Andrei-Florin Baleanu, Ruth C. E. Bowyer, Alexander Kurilshikov, Alexandra Zhernakova, Claire J. Steves, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: The study found reduced diversity in the microbiome of CWP patients, with the species Coprococcus comes significantly depleted. A genome-wide association study identified a potential link between C. comes and CWP, but causal relationship was not supported. This suggests the involvement of gut microbiota in CWP and potential therapeutic opportunities in the microbiome for this condition.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bianka Karshikoff, Karin Wahlen, Jenny Astrom, Mats Lekander, Linda Holmstrom, Rikard K. K. Wicksell
Summary: Chronic pain is often accompanied by psychological comorbidity, and the lack of clear pathophysiological factors and valid biomarkers makes it difficult to diagnose. In this study, inflammatory blood biomarkers were found to be associated with psychological comorbidity, but not with pain intensity in a chronic pain population. Specific inflammatory proteins were identified that may be related to anxiety and depression.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Ann-Sofie Ronnegard, Christoph Nowak, Bjorn Ang, Johan Arnlov
Summary: The study investigates the association between different levels of chronic or nonchronic pain and cardiovascular disease. The results indicate that chronic pain is associated with an increased risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE CARDIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Giuliana G. Repetti, Yuri Kim, Alexandre C. Pereira, Jodie Ingles, Mark W. Russell, Neal K. Lakdawala, Carolyn Y. Ho, Sharlene Day, Christopher Semsarian, Barbara McDonough, Steven R. DePalma, Daniel Quiat, Eric M. Green, Christine E. Seidman, J. G. Seidman
Summary: The clinical expression of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is influenced by background genetic variation and environmental factors. A study of 11 pairs of monozygotic HCM twins showed discordant cardiac morphology even among twins with the same pathogenic variant, indicating a significant role for epigenetics and environment in HCM disease progression. Whole genome sequencing analysis did not reveal notable somatic genetic variants to explain the clinical differences in the twins.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine
M. Lim, T. D. Nascimento, D. J. Kim, V. L. Ellingrod, A. F. DaSilva
Summary: The study found aberrant BOLDSV in specific frequency bands in chronic myofascial TMD patients, which correlated with pain frequency and severity. The COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism may affect clinical symptoms.
JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Sakina J. Rizvi, Wiebke Gandhi, Tim Salomons
Summary: Pain disorders and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) often coexist in clinical settings, potentially due to deficits in reward processing. Environmental events in conjunction with reward impairment diathesis may worsen symptoms, creating a negative feedback loop.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Johannes Achenbach, Mathias Rhein, Alexander Glahn, Helge Frieling, Matthias Karst
Summary: This study investigated the role of methylation in regulating leptin levels in patients with multisomatoform disorder (MSD). The findings suggest that methylation is negatively correlated with leptin levels in female patients, especially in those with chronic widespread pain.
CLINICAL EPIGENETICS
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Maxim B. Freidin, Yakov A. Tsepilov, Ian B. Stanaway, Weihua Meng, Caroline Hayward, Blair H. Smith, Samar Khoury, Marc Parisien, Andrey Bortsov, Luda Diatchenko, Sigrid Borte, Bendik S. Winsvold, Ben M. Brumpton, John-Anker Zwart, Yurii S. Aulchenko, Pradeep Suri, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: Sex differences exist in chronic back pain (cBP), with females usually experiencing higher morbidity, severity, and poorer treatment response. Genetic factors may play a role in an age-specific manner, with a high genetic correlation between the sexes in cBP.
Article
Anesthesiology
Pradeep Suri, Ian B. Stanaway, Yanfei Zhang, Maxim B. Freidin, Yakov A. Tsepilov, David S. Carrell, Frances M. K. Williams, Yurii S. Aulchenko, Hakon Hakonarson, Bahram Namjou, David R. Crosslin, Gail P. Jarvik, Ming Ta Lee
Summary: Identifying genetic risk factors for lumbar spine disorders through genome-wide association studies using electronic health record data may lead to the development of new treatments. The study identified two novel associations with lumbar spine disorders, including lumbosacral radicular syndrome and lumbar spinal stenosis. Replication in an independent sample confirmed the association with lumbar spinal stenosis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Helena R. R. Wells, Fatin N. Zainul Abidin, Maxim B. Freidin, Frances M. K. Williams, Sally J. Dawson
Summary: Tinnitus is a common condition with potential genetic components. A study found strong associations between RCOR1 gene and self-reported tinnitus, along with other genetic loci that may be linked to tinnitus.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Isabelle Granville Smith, Nathan P. Danckert, Maxim B. Freidin, Philippa Wells, Julian R. Marchesi, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: Back pain is associated with intervertebral disc degeneration and bacterial infection, with Cutibacterium acnes identified in pathological disc material. Some studies may be biased, and further research using newer methods is needed.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Melody Kasher, Maxim B. Freidin, Frances Mk Williams, Stacey S. Cherny, Ida Malkin, Gregory Livshits
Summary: This study investigated the genetic association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoporosis (OP), and found evidence of pleiotropy. Shared genetic variants associated with both RA and OP were identified.
JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Natalia Trpchevska, Maxim B. Freidin, Linda Broer, Berthe C. Oosterloo, Shuyang Yao, Yitian Zhou, Barbara Vona, Charles Bishop, Argyro Bizaki-Vallaskangas, Barbara Canlon, Fabio Castellana, Daniel I. Chasman, Stacey Cherny, Kaare Christensen, Maria Pina Concas, Adolfo Correa, Ran Elkon, Jonas Mengel-From, Yan Gao, Anne B. S. Giersch, Giorgia Girotto, Alexander Gudjonsson, Vilmundur Gudnason, Nancy L. Heard-Costa, Ronna Hertzano, Jacob v.B. Hjelmborg, Jens Hjerling-Leffler, Howard J. Hoffman, Jaakko Kaprio, Johannes Kettunen, Kristi Krebs, Anna K. Kahler, Francois Lallemend, Lenore J. Launer, I-Min Lee, Hampton Leonard, Chuan-Ming Li, Hubert Lowenheim, Patrik K. E. Magnusson, Joyce van Meurs, Lili Milani, Cynthia C. Morton, Antti Makitie, Mike A. Nalls, Giuseppe Giovanni Nardone, Marianne Nygaard, Teemu Palviainen, Sheila Pratt, Nicola Quaranta, Joel Ramo, Elmo Saarentaus, Rodolfo Sardone, Claudia L. Satizabal, John M. Schweinfurth, Sudha Seshadri, Eric Shiroma, Eldad Shulman, Eleanor Simonsick, Christopher Spankovich, Anke Tropitzsch, Volker M. Lauschke, Patrick F. Sullivan, Andre Goedegebure, Christopher R. Cederroth, Frances M. K. Williams, Andries Paul Nagtegaal
Summary: Hearing loss is a significant contributor to disability and a risk factor for dementia. By analyzing genetic data and mapping it to specific cells in the cochlea, this study identifies novel loci and highlights the importance of the stria vascularis in hearing impairment, offering potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Stacey S. Cherny, Frances M. K. Williams, Gregory Livshits
Summary: The present study examines the genetic overlap of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components using quantitative genetic modeling and GWAS analysis. The results demonstrate a modest but significant genetic overlap, suggesting that treating each component individually may be important in the clinical treatment of MetS.
ANNALS OF HUMAN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Melody Kasher, Frances M. K. Williams, Maxim B. Freidin, Ida Malkin, Stacey S. Cherny, Gregory Livshits
Summary: Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis are two complex inflammatory conditions with shared genetic background and causal relationships. This study aimed to clarify the genetic architecture underlying these conditions and their relationship with C-reactive protein. The findings suggest that RA is a causal risk factor for CRP and there is evidence of shared genetic regions between CRP and OP.
HUMAN MOLECULAR GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Frances M. K. Williams, Elizaveta E. Elgaeva, Maxim B. Freidin, Olga O. Zaytseva, Yurii S. Aulchenko, Yakov A. Tsepilov, Pradeep Suri
Summary: There are causal associations between education, smoking, alcohol consumption, major depressive disorder, and the risk of chronic back pain (CBP). CBP also has causal associations with greater alcohol consumption and smoking.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ellen J. Thompson, Dylan M. Williams, Alex J. Walker, Ruth E. Mitchell, Claire L. Niedzwiedz, Tiffany C. Yang, Charlotte F. Huggins, Alex S. F. Kwong, Richard J. Silverwood, Giorgio Di Gessa, Ruth C. E. Bowyer, Kate Northstone, Bo Hou, Michael J. Green, Brian Dodgeon, Katie J. Doores, Emma L. Duncan, Frances M. K. Williams, Andrew Steptoe, David J. Porteous, Rosemary R. C. McEachan, Laurie Tomlinson, Ben Goldacre, Praveetha Patalay, George B. Ploubidis, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Kate Tilling, Christopher T. Rentsch, Nicholas J. Timpson, Nishi Chaturvedi, Claire J. Steves, Alex J. Walker, Brian MacKenna, Peter Inglesby, Helen J. Curtis, Caroline E. Morton, Jessica Morley, Amir Mehrkar, Seb Bacon, George Hickman, Chris Bates, Richard Croker, David Evans, Tom Ward, Jonathan Cockburn, Simon Davy, Krishnan Bhaskaran, Anna Schultze, Elizabeth J. Williamson, William J. Hulme, Simon Davy, Helen McDonald, Rohini Mathur, Rosalind M. Eggo, Kevin Wing, Angel Y. S. Wong, Harriet Forbes, John Tazare, John Parry, Frank Hester, Sam Harper, Ian J. Douglas, Stephen J. W. Evans, Liam Smeeth
Summary: The frequency and risk factors of long COVID in community-based individuals are unclear. A study analyzing data from 10 UK population-based studies and electronic health records found wide variation in the frequency of long COVID between studies, but identified some consistent risk factors.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
A. Jamaludin, T. Kadir, A. Zisserman, I. McCall, F. M. K. Williams, H. Lang, E. Buchanan, J. P. G. Urban, J. C. T. Fairbank
Summary: By re-annotating MRIs and using a verified automated MRI annotation system, we found that the relationship between degeneration and symptoms has been questioned. MRI detects similar degenerative changes in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The results indicate that age and disc level play a significant role in determining imaging differences between the two groups.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Roger Compte, Isabelle Granville Smith, Amanda Isaac, Nathan Danckert, Terence McSweeney, Panagiotis Liantis, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of machine learning algorithms in diagnosing disc degeneration, herniation, bulge, and Modic change. The results showed that the current algorithms performed not as well as radiologists in these aspects. The authors suggest using deep learning coupled with semi- or unsupervised learning approaches and utilizing all information contained in MRI data to improve accuracy.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Maxim B. Freidin, Nathan Cheetham, Emma L. Duncan, Claire J. Steves, Katherine J. Doores, Michael H. Malim, Niccolo Rossi, Janet M. Lord, Paul W. Franks, Alessandra Borsini, Isabelle Granville Smith, Mario Falchi, Carmine Pariante, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: Chronic fatigue is a common symptom of post-COVID syndrome, and this study suggests that elevated levels of IL-6 prior to COVID-19 infection may contribute to the development of chronic fatigue.
INFLAMMATION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Yakov A. Tsepilov, Elizaveta E. Elgaeva, Arina V. Nostaeva, Roger Compte, Ivan A. Kuznetsov, Lennart C. Karssen, Maxim B. Freidin, Pradeep Suri, Frances M. K. Williams, Yurii S. Aulchenko
Summary: Chronic back pain (CBP) is a complex heritable trait and a major cause of disability worldwide. We developed and validated a genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) for CBP using a large-scale GWAS based on UK Biobank participants of European ancestry (N = 265,000). The PRS showed poor overall predictive ability (AUC = 0.56 and OR = 1.24 per SD, 95% CI: 1.22-1.26), but individuals from the 99th percentile of PRS distribution had a nearly two-fold increased risk of CBP (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.60-2.06). We validated the PRS on an independent TwinsUK sample, obtaining a similar magnitude of effect. The PRS was significantly associated with various ICD-10 and OPCS-4 diagnostic codes, including chronic ischemic heart disease (OR = 1.1, p-value = 4.8 x 10(-15)), obesity, metabolism-related traits, spine disorders, disc degeneration, and arthritis-related disorders. PRS and environment interaction analysis with twelve known CBP risk factors revealed no significant results, suggesting that the magnitude of G x E interactions with studied factors is small. The limited predictive ability of the PRS that we developed is likely explained by the complexity, heterogeneity, and polygenicity of CBP, for which sample sizes of a few hundred thousand are insufficient to estimate small genetic effects robustly.
JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Francesco Gualdi, Isabelle Granville Smith, Roger Compte Boixader, Frances M. K. Williams
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence and severity of Modic change (MC) in individuals with autoimmune disorders and found no association between autoimmune disorders and MC. However, BMI was found to be independently associated with MC width.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2023)
